Well, we've finally made it up to our "high camp," at about 11,500 in Colorado. We took two days to schlep everything up to "Camp Leatherwall," as we're calling it. Elk have been seen...umm, let's just leave it at that for now! Grouse have also been seen...but none have yet found their way into the cast-iron skillet I lugged up for that purpose.

Our campsite is in this photo, just to the left of the spire of rocks in the photo. The views are to die for.

The hike up in was a chore--too much gear, and not enough oxygen; but that's just Colorado and elk season. We saw a ton of sign almost immediately upon entering the woods, and decided that we couldn't just walk past it all...so we dumped the gear and hunted until dusk, and then made an impromptu camp for the night.

Lance and Pdiddly took their time getting used to the altitude that first night...perhaps because I had marched them up a vertical hill, with full packs, for the first 500 yards of the trip. It hurts, I know...but it builds character. By the next morning their vital signs had stabilized, and we were back on the trail to our high camp. They had mostly forgiven me. The smiles on their faces are based on my strategic lie--I had just finished telling them it was "just another mile or so" to camp.

Good luck guys!!

looking forward to good stories!

It required a few more lies to convince Knifeguy; in this photo I'm telling him how many elk we will see, and how dumb they are. Unfortunately just the opposite has proven to be the case so far, but I think we're closing in on them. Plus, I've brought "Weapon X" with me, which no elk is immune to...and if necessary I will use it.

Best of luck, enjoyed the pictures.

This will be it for now, but there's a chance that Pdiddly will be able to uplink us from our high camp--we may be able to give you live feeds of our heroic exploits. This is our playpen for the next few days...lots of room for the elk to hide around here, but the terrain lends itself to hunting them--tall timber with no understory, where a man can slink from tree to tree and see a long way in many directions.

Now if the bulls will just start bugling, we'll be in business. Thus far the season is too hot and dry; they haven't really started the rut at all. Good-bye for now...and don't believe anything that Frisky reports on our adventures!

Crookedstix

You mis-titled the thread. It should be called- Adventures of the Three Stooges. I will say the elk are dumb. They're probably the stupidest animals in the west! One famous Leatherwaller once wrote that a bull elk has the IQ of a three week old whitetail fawn. They're also big as a barn door. If I don't get elk steak, you don't get your bow back! Oh, I forgot to mention Weapon X is just about the sorriest deal I've seen, lol!

Joe

One last picture, taken by Pdiddly, of the incredible scenery up here on top of the world.

Hurts to breathe just looking at the pictures! Have fun and be safe!

If those guys are smiling, you'd best not piss 'em off!

Have fun! I'm dying of envy.... So make my misery complete and post up a storm!!!!

If those guys are smiling, you'd best not piss 'em off!

Have fun! I'm dying of envy.... So make my misery complete and post up a storm!!!!

Elk steak Frisky?

If you're lucky we'll wound a marmot for you to finish off.

If not it will be a road kill armadillo!

Get the Mojo packed up...we'll be by.

Phil...any way you can block Frisky from this thread? LOL!!

The Mojo is going nowhere. By the end of this trip, you'll all likely vanish in the mountains without a trace!

Joe

One last thing- This would make a good episode of Fat Guys In the Woods! HAHA!!!

Joe

And one more last thing- watch this thread folks! We'll see beautiful scenery, same as last year, but no dead elk, hahah! If they show pics of Weapon X in action, it will be well worth your time, lol!

Joe

Good luck guys, I know Lance has been really looking forward to this trip.

Great report and photos. Have the trip of a lifetime!

Lots of room for elk between you and that lizard head. Hope you guys get into them! Timber looks healthy, no beetle kill. Stay safe, and keep the stories coming.

Good luck, but don't push yourselves too hard till you are used to the thin air. Thanks for the pictures and taking us along.

Best of luck on your hunt.

Best of luck and enjoy the hunt guys.

Hugh

Three of my favorite Wallers on the same hunt? This is great! Lol

Ya'll have fun. Elk for dinner.

Looks like the aspen are turning already in the high country. Fantastic country-- wish I was there in my home state.

Kerry didn't mention how long the intrepid trio stayed at Base Camp before making the ascent to spike camp. I suspect it took several days to acclimate to the effects of the thin air compounded by amber "fortification fluids!"

Good hunting you guys!

Good luck and thanks for posting Kerry! I'll be following this thread closely.

You were wise not to bring Frisky. I'm told he smells of cat pee and cheap perfume. He would likely scare all the elk and attract predators. - John

good luck guys

Good luck guys. Elk hunting is high on my bucket list.

Good hunting, beautiful country, thanks for sharing. Enjoy.

Way to go guys. Good luck

Thanks for all the good wishes!

Backcountry...Kerry and I arrived Saturday and carried in. Lance arrived the day before so was a bit more used to it.

We slept in the trucks and headed back up this morning. We were not in the timber for 30 minutes when a bull began bugling 200 yards above us and heading down our way.

We then heard it have an encounter with another bull then keep moving down!.

Packs were dropped and we moved to intercept...came over a rise and three elk- two cows and a young bull who were not with the bugling bull were 30 yards away and lit out uphill!!

That was that! Quite the experience!

Back at the LW Camp in 30 minutes. I can get cell service up here by some miracle

More later!! Please fix crooked pics

I can't believe you guys can't close the deal on these dumb animals!

Joe

30 minutes into the adventure and they're already in amongst 'em! That's pretty good for a buncha flat landers.

The lack of roads up there is a big reason for the elk concentration...but that would have definitely been a detriment to Frisky "closing the deal" on a roadside casualty. Unlike whitetails, roadkilled elk are much harder to come by.

I'm hoping for news from the intrepid trio of more close elk encounters and hopefully, grilled backstraps, in the coming days.

The hunt of a lifetime for me. Great photos and good luck to all of you.

How are they gonna get grilled backstrap when they can't even hit a grouse at 10 feet? I suggest they check the menu at that saloon. They might have elk. My deer season opens Saturday, so they'll probably get backstrap, but it won't be elk.

Joe

Hope to see SEVERAL arrowed BIG ELK!

Frisky, the only backstraps you get is if you road bump another deer this year.

Hope ya'll get into the elk and come out with a few.

-Bones

frisky should be in this camp!

I couldn't go or I would have. It would have been their only sure way to get an elk. I wouldn't even consider it a challenge. I'd have Crookedstix and Pdiddly carry my stuff in, and I'd do all the real hunting, plus skinning etc.

Joe

Good luck guys, thanks for sharing your adventure!

Frisky I heard thru the grapevine that you might need to borrow a good knife to skin an elk! If you do there are plenty of Wallers on here that could help you out!

If they ever get into the grouse, they'll forget about elk hunting--they're delicious!

Should have tucked a wrist rocket in the kit, though, as in my experience hunting arrows suffer a high rate of attrition trying to collect grouse meat.

good luck to you guys,,

Update...saw a bunch of mule deer yesterday, including one that ran thru camp!

We're hunting elk though so mulie bucks are a nice diversion.

Did a full day of walking and scouting yesterday that culminated in us funding elk central...saw about a dozen elk in late afternoon that we're 100 yards above us heading up.

Had a powwow at the LW Camp last night and decided to strike camp this morning a relocate lower to where we had seen and heard elk.

So today we got out and trekked for four miles to the new LW Camp.

Dropped our gear and then headed to town to get groceries and bid knifeguy adieu as he is heading home.

Hey Frisky! Lance holds the record for the oldest attendee at Camp LW's 11,500 ft above sea level spike camp, a goal you could aspire to! And crookedstix and I will not haul your crap or your butt in!!

You want an elk? Come and get them! We're willing to watch and learn...fyi...they haven't been run over by a semi so are a wee bit more of a challenge than you are accustomed to!

Anyway...Kerry and I are heading back onto the mountain in two hours to set up camp at the new location.

Oh...speaking of campsites, I never realized crookedstix would be so OCD about them...I wanted to hunt elk two days ago but he decided to have a "Tidy Camper" competition and we engaged in a morning of sprucing up, laundry and ice baths in "Buttwash Brook" that only served to anger the gods who sent down gobs of thundersnow with lightning strikes 500 ft from camp!

Undaunted, we cooked steak with rice pilaf right in the middle of it! Hear,hear to the Forge of Vulcan!!

All right Frisky, here's the scoop. We're back in town now, and good old Knifeguy is treating us all to pizza and rehydration. My normal "office" at the last Dollar Saloon is unavailable, because the Brews and Blues Festival is going on in Telluride right now, and there's a few thousand more weirdos here than normal.

The elk are in a very different pattern this year than they were a year ago. Instead of hanging out at timberline, they are spending their time a couple thousand feet lower...perhaps owing to the drier weather this August and September; the vegetation is more succulent down there.

Two days ago I had a pair of spikehorn elk broadside, grazing and unaware, at 18 and 22 yards--a shot I could have made even with one of your crappy bows. However, spikehorns are protected by law here...so all I could do was imagine the perfectly-placed shot I would have made.

I've had to lay down the law with Pdiddly and Knifeguy--they thought they only came here to hunt, but I had a few projects around the camp that I wanted done as well. Major additions have been made to my stone fireplace, and plenty of pruning so as to allow me to sit on my butt in camp and glass the entire basin as I sip coffee and nibble the 20 pounds of trail mix that Lance brought. Life is good here now!

My friend Rob is back this year as well. He's the muzzleloader guy who I helped pack out an elk last year. Two nights ago he and I were after a bugling bull in a meadow, only to be busted by two cows that were also moving towards him. Two minutes either way and I believe we would have gotten a crack at him.

Rob camps about a mile away from us, and his technique is to glass for elk anywhere in the basin...and then run to them! He's taken elk here three years in a row, and we're pretty sure we heard him shoot yesterday at 4 PM...so maybe he scored again. His "camp" consists of a hammock under a tarp, a light weight stove and cooking kit, and a bag of food hung from a bear line. He saw a bear in the meadow near his camp a few days ago, and he also had a screaming bull elk run to about twenty yards from his camp at midnight earlier this week.

The real problem this yer is the lack of bugling--it's just too warm so far, even though we had a bit of thundersnow the other night. I may have to deploy Weapon X in another day or so, if Pdiddly and I are going to come through with backstraps for Frisky.

So far I've found about six different bone fields where elk have died. I've selected one particularly stout fibula, which we have dubbed the "Bone of Contention," that I will be using to beat Frisky over the head until he surrenders the Mojo...when we arrive there later next week.

Crookedstix yuall are living the DREAM enjoy every minute in one of the most beautiful places on earth!

Oh...one more thing. After knifeguy giggled and laughed at the sharpness of crookedstix' Bear greenies it was decided at a congress ( with a democratic vote of 2-1) that knifeguy would be " honoured" as the " Sharpening Slave of the High Camp."

We tied him to a stake under a tarp and brought him our broadheads to be ministered to. He was not pleased but we were!!

A little report from the old man of the group. I have to tell you that you are never prepared for the thin air at 11,500'! I walked, did as much hiking as my pulled Achille's tendon would allow and did a couple of bicycle rides around where I live that has no flat streets! Still not enough! A sore back for a year didn't help either. Not making excuses here, just saying be in their best physical shape that you can be in. I also packed in waaaaayyyyyy too much stuff and If I get to come back next year I know what not to bring. A walking stick that a friend gave to me was a life saver, as almost nothing on the way in, or for that matter, on the way out is down hill, so if you have one use it. I also took altitude sickness pills and they helped with the recovery time.

Frisky, I want you to try this in your 68th year and give me a report! I'll be sure to stick around long enough to read it.

Then to crookstix and Pdiddly for all the lessons learned, the misled walked and the stories shared. I could not have drawn two better companions for the best 7 days I have had in a hell of a long time. Later, Lance.

For all those who might wish to see the "Forge of Vulcan" that Pdiddly referred to, here it is.

The stone for this fireplace came from a nearby rockslide, toted by slave labor. The central firepit has a stone floor, so that embers will not ignite the needle duff underneath it. Once the wood has been burned to embers on the left-hand side of the pit, they are pushed under the grill for cooking. Alternatively, they can be pushed under the cantilevered flat rock, upon which our wet boots are placed for drying. The two tiers of flat rock to the far right are used for staging the food and utensils used for each meal.

Thanks to our foresight and bone labor, the Forge was ready when the thundersnow hit. We sneered at the Gods--Pdiddly was heard to say "Is that all you got?" when the lightning struck beside our camp. We stayed warm and mostly dry, and by morning we were ready to hunt again.

Here's Lance, right side up. We've found that his fear of being left in the wilderness makes for great motivation; we gave him all the grubby jobs around camp and said "do it or be left for dead." The wilderness is a harsh mistress, LOL.

Kind of sad the way this is going. Three supposed great white hunters and they can't close the deal on the stupidest animal out west! HAHA!! This is the first deer opener I've ever missed, due to rain, and I'll still get a deer before they get an elk! We had 3 to 4 inches this morning and are supposed to get 3.3" this early evening. It's also nearly 80 degrees. Tomorrow will be 69 and sunny and I'll get going with the real hunting!

Joe

More sharpening work for Lance...we only made him work for five hours.

We would not have been so kind to Frisky, assuming he could sharpen anything!

All right, that's enough for now; Pdiddly and I have an elk to kill. Hopefully these posts will have shown Frisky and others how the pros do it...who knows, the day may come when he will man up and join us out here. I expect our next postings will feature photos of a dead elk. Later!

Crookedstix

I don't know how I missed this thread, but I'm enjoying the heck out of it. Thanks for the read and the great pictures. Best of luck, guys!

Any hunter who cannot hone his own broadheads and knives to razor sharpness should be left to die in the wilderness.

Joe

Awesome you guys and keep pushing and have tons of fun. JF

Really enjoying this thread, thanks, and best of luck!

Looks like he is tied to the stake for now.

It sounds to me like these guys spend way too much time sitting around camp sharpening broadheads or preparing their food or preparing a proper fireplace or going to town for groceries or eating pizza or watching the weirdos in town. I've got to give them high marks for creative excuses, however: Too warm; Elk not bugling; Elk pattering differently: Thunder snow etc. etc. etc.

(But, for some crazy reason, I kinda wish that I was was with them!

Fred, I was thinking the same thing! Sounds like the're just on vacation--real elk hunting is nothing but work.

Man, I wish I was there!

Skookum - My favorite line was Knifeguy talking about taking his high altitude pills. HAHAHA!!! If I was there, I'd be giving them all attitude pills! That's what they need! What are they gonna do if I get a whitetail tomorrow while they're still getting fooled by cow elk?

Joe

Sorry to hear that KNIFEGUY had to BOOGIE OUT! DRAT! GOOD HUNTING!

looking forward to how it turns out!

Living the good life. Like the way you cook. Good luck.

Farthest I have been up there is Silverton. You really are in wilderness. Love that country.

Hope all is well in the mountains.

We should hear from them any day now. They're desperate and have likely gotten out Weapon X.

Joe

With some winter weather heading their way and the Blues and Brews festival winding down, I expect the Intrepid two-thirds will soon be relocating to their base camp in Telluride.

In SW Colorado, they get what we got, and last night we got 6" -7" of snow in the high country around here.

I don't think they're up to snuff with real hunters, so I suppose a little snow will drive them back to civilization.

Joe

A few years back, friends got snowed in on a mountain in Co. It was several days before they could come down but it could help theirhunt.

Stay safe, enjoy the adventure.

We headed down off the mountain this afternoon from the Black Face Mesa camp.

Elk were keeping me awake at night but crookedstix needed to build another flippin' stone fireplace. Woke up yesterday morning to snow everywhere and the sound of rocks being dragged, split and arranged!!

He has issues...

Anyway...we covered a lot of ground looking for elk but had our still hunting techniques down cold as we both had several shot opportunities on big mulie bucks at 20 yards that we could not take...grrr...they should include them on an elk licence eh?

Frisky...are you trying to impress me with the temperature plummeting to 69 degrees! Are you hunting in cut-off jeans and a Hawaiian shirt??

You'll appreciate that stone fireplace when the sun sets on all that snow! I stayed inside today, as we had high winds. I enjoy hunting in the wind, but I did have obligations to fulfill. We have 87 forecasted for Friday! Anyway, get back on that mountain and get me my backstraps!

Joe

Hope that You guys have the woolen undies and are ready for snow? How much longer can Y'ALL go at this? GOOD HUNTING!

Hey all, Just wanted to touch base again and tell you that I got home okay. I drove a total of 2,562 miles and every day spent with Pete and Kerry was worth it. Even at my age It was fun learning something new, and experiencing the remoteness of the mountains. We were only in a few miles but it felt like more. I haven't heard from my compadres yet, but I'm really hoping that they at least got a shot at an elk!

And Frisky, I know that under that sarcastic exterior beats the heart of man with even more sarcasm to spread out among us heathens and tender foots. So keep it up and don't change an iota, I'll think that you're sick or something!

BTW, Kerry does build a very nice stone fireplace, and if you need someone on your hunt to build one, he works real cheap!

And Skookum, it would have been great to have you in camp too! Kerry kept threatening to tickle me in the butt with his bow tip to prod me along. We had a great laugh! Thanks,Lance.

The best kind of fun. Rooty

They're 15 minutes from here. I expect they have elk meat in the truck and are keeping quiet so I can't have any. I'll go through their belongings while they eat pork loin and grilled corn on the cob.

Sounds fantastic. Good luck guys. Be safe and shoot straight!

Awesome,dream hunt :-):-):-) JF

Alas, we'ne left Colorado now, with no elk to take home, but at least we have some great photos (which we will soon be sharing more of). Better still, "Knuckles" Denley and I stopped in Austin, Minnesota to visit a certain Mr. Frisk tonight, and I got the Fred Anderson Mojo back. It's safe in the car now, and will be headed to Maine tomorrow.

As usual, it was Joe's 98-year-old mom who did all of the work getting some food rustled up, while Frisky just kept bending our ears and making us feel the blades on all of his hunting knives.

To our great surprise, Pdiddly and I were both actually allowed to shoot the fabled Deathmaster in Frisky's driveway range. A full report on its performance is forthcoming...but suffice it to say that it's a very sweet shooting bow, perhaps almost worthy of all the praise Frisky heaps on it. I wanted to give it a more prolonged testing, but Frisky wouldn't allow it.

Anyway, we had a great time talking bows and tossing arrows with Joe and his friend MT Quiver, and we also had a fine midnight snack of pork loin and sweet corn, with many trimmings provided by Joe's mom. A fine rest stop on our trip back east!

Now for the truth and pics later. The bums stopped by, and I checked the vehicle to see if they were hiding elk or grouse. Nothing. I ended up having to get out the grill. I was threatened with an elk bone and had to give up my Mojo. Fine. Crookedstix can glue the snakeskins back on himself. They wouldn't be coming loose to begin with if Fred hadn't used Elmer's on them. They were packing bows in the dark, and I took their picture, at Crookedstix's insistence. I got suspicious as to why he acted guilty and wanted me to take their picture just putting bows away. So, I went over to check the hood of my car and make sure the Deathmaster was ok. It was gone! I checked the photo and they were packing away the BOW OF BOWS! When they went to say goodbye to my mom and MT, I got it back. They even tried to steal my cat Tinker and then blamed me for their leaving the car door open. I had to do a cat body count before they pulled away. At least I talked them into leaving in the morning and not coming back to pester me! I've always said, the only good thing about company is when they leave. Things are quiet now. I listened to their story of failure, with one excuse and rationalization after another, and concluded they all would have starved to death if it hadn't been for Knifeguy bringing along 20 pounds of trail mix. Pdidley somehow managed to gain weight, but he and Crookedstix quit early, got drunk and flirted with the waitress at that saloon. She had them ordering one steak after another. Maybe the next time they'll actually hunt. Hunting is not about friendships formed, beautiful scenery, the thrill of the chase and all the politically correct stuff. It's about meat on the grill. It's not good enough to say you could have shot a mulie if you had a license. You can't grill could haves. Just watch how they start posting one photo after another with no kill pics in sight. Then you'll have the chorus of Gregorian chanters going along with the farce, supporting a delusion. Next year, I'll have to go and get the job done.

Joe

Here's a bum threatening me with a so-called "bone of contention." The crybaby wanted his Mojo back.

If this isn't attempted theft, I don't know what is! I got it back. MTQuiver stood there like a lump on a log, feeling bad that nobody was interested in his crappy Schafer.

Joe

On a positive note, I found a copy of Crookedstix's book in the library dumpster and took it home. It's worth picking up if you can find one for 50 cents or less. I have to admit it has one of the best intros I've read in a long time. Surprisingly, it's in color and has excellent drawings and photos. It's very well written and explores the early Indians of Maine and the flora and fauna of the land they called home. The day before the book came into my possession, I was walking across a field and opened a milkweed pod. The book has a drawing of an opened milkweed pod that is exactly correct. It has another drawing labeled sparrow hawk. That's the old name for the sharp-shinned hawk. It has a great page on chokecherries. I'm just about to the really good parts, but this is a book worth reading if you like to read about Indians and also have an interest in animal and plant life. Most of us do.

Joe

So that's what this was really all about; a conspiracy to create a shameless plug for a book! Like they say, "birds of a feather..."

Frisky, I don't care much about your junky bows, but I am glad you saved your cat. Surely it would have wound up in a hubcap next to some wild mushrooms... - John

"A little report from the old man of the group. I have to tell you that you are never prepared for the thin air at 11,500'! I walked, did as much hiking as my pulled Achille's tendon would allow and did a couple of bicycle rides around where I live that has no flat streets! Still not enough! "

Duuuuude.....

20 years ago, I lived half-time in Denver and half in Summit County. I was biking 120-140 mile/week, whether commuting on a MTB or full-on single-tracking between 8600 and 10,000- some feet. I've never weighed over #140 in my life, but I had less than #10 of lard on my entire body, and my resting heart rate in Denver was around 40 BPM.

But at/above 11.5?? I could ride the bike (uphill) about 100 yards without having to stop and either push or just sit and gasp. Never been so happy to see a Wilderness Area boundary in my whole life, 'cuz it meant I had to head back down....

So JMO, you did OK.

And thanks for taking us along.....

If Knifeguy hadn't been tethered to a couple of bums, he probably would have gotten an elk. I found out he even gifted knives to those bums. I wanted to see those knives and forgot to force them to get them out, after making them check the sharpness of my knives. I'd like to see photos of those knives posted here.

Joe

Now, waidaminnit....

What about the Mystery Weppin?

Fisher cat- My cats were in great peril, but I never took my eyes off them.

GF- I asked about Weapon X. They never used it. They made so much noise and smelled the area up so badly, the elk stayed too far off in the distance. So much for Weapon X!

Joe

The truth!!?? Frisky's Fractured Facts are as far from the truth as he is from ever getting an elk.

We weren't stealing the Bow of Bow's...his lovely, generous and long suffering 98 year old mother ( bless her soul) is so sick of hearing him brag about it that she snuck out and put it in the roof carrier. She was on her way back out with the Holy Fail when we saw the first bow in the box. Look at the picture. It is clear I am handing the bow to crookedstix and rejecting it!

I found the Deathmaster while trying to clear all the damn cats out of my SUV!! They were all looking for a better life in Canada with good health care...we take care of our critters even if Frisky does not.

Can you believe Frisky was feeding us inside the house while ransacking our truck in front? Sheesh! What a cad!

Anyway, the Deathmaster is a great bow but too bad Frisky owns it since he just drools all over it, which is why his mother wanted us to take it...I have to cross a border and don't want to have a contraband bow and a bunch of mangy cats popping out of the windows while I'm talking to the border guard.

Oh yeah...we experienced more grousing during three hours at Frisky's than was had in a week in Colorado!!

Last bit...we challenged Big Blow Joe, the Minnesota Motormouth to a flight shooting test of our bows the next day. He hemmed and hawed and looked at his shoes and then muttered something about "...not enough open space around here."

WHAT!! In SW Minnesota with only 10 million acres of cut stubble fields! Not enough space??!!

We rest our case. Our worst bows would have smoked both of his and he knew it and cut and ran!!

The Kaibab, Howatt Saber and Tice and Watts reign supreme!!

What a bunch of bunk! I love flight shooting and wanted to go find a place, but we'd have had to impose on MT and make him take us to the Rochester Archery Club, nearly 50 miles away. He said they'd allow us to do a test, but I didn't want to put him on the spot. Besides, I have secret flight arrows I never showed them and are no longer manufactured. My bows would have won for sure! However, it wouldn't have been fair. Besides, I didn't want them hanging around any longer than necessary. They had their chance to impress and came up elkless. There was no reason to prolong the affair. I might also mention the 10 million acres of cut stubble fields are all private property. My brother won't even let me shoot from his front yard into the neighbor's field, as he said the farmers are super sensitive to people going on or near their land and wouldn't let me shoot if I asked or would call the sheriff on me if I shot without asking.

Joe

On a more serious note, I just learned that my buddy Rob--who I helped pack out an elk last year--was also successful this year.

On Friday afternoon, Pdiddly and I had just jumped a group of about 10 elk as we headed up over a saddle towards our camp. Ten minutes later, we heard a shot about a half mile away...and we both wondered if it might be Rob, who we knew to be hunting in that general area. Well...it was!

He got a nice cow, and was even nice enough to hike all the way up to our camp the following day with some backstraps to share. Sadly, by then we were at our new camp, and all Rob found was the cast iron fry pan that I had left for future use. But, it's the thought that counts. We've already agreed to meet for hunting and campfire meals up there next year. You meet nice folks out in the woods!

Frisky, I'm sure you are too trusting and perhaps even too traumatized to realize it, but what you've experienced is called a "home invasion" and it is a serious crime. You should obtain a restraining order, contact a good lawyer and seek counselling for you and your family. You may also be eligible for the witness protection program. The disturbing pictures you posted should be saved as evidence for any future legal proceedings.

What I find most shocking is that this crime was perpetrated by an author whos works are found in "reading rooms" all over Maine. I will try to obtain a personal copy as they are becoming difficult to find... - John

Fisher Cat- That's exactly what it was- a home invasion! The gall of them! I do recommend Crookedstix's book, but don't pay more than 50 cents if you can find one at a book sale.

Joe

I'm glad to hear that Rob shot his elk! A very nice young man to be sure. Lance.

All the banter in this thread made me smile. Looking forward to more pictures of the trip. I sure so hope I can find a way to go elk hunting sooner than later.

Thought I would post some more pics of our hunt.

We got very close a few times but no dice...the elk won fair and square. We could have taken four or five buck mule deer though...they were everywhere.

Success is measured in many different ways and wandering around in such gorgeous surroundings is good for the soul.

Great hunt with great people!

Here's crookedstix and knifeguy just before we set off on a six mile hunt ending with a trip into a nearby town to get provisions. Don't know why Kerry looks like he got kicked by a mule!!

Here's a picture of our camp. It is just at the base of the right side of the rock outcropping (The Pulpit) in the uppermost trees. There was a spring below it. Kerry and Lance are close to the spring in the picture above and you can also see the right side of the Pulpit.

We've hunted a long ways from the camp in this picture. You can see The Pulpit on the left side just above the notch in the treeline.

Even further away now...we were hunting contours along a slope and heading for this big alpine meadow.

Here's Lance and I...camp is way back behind us now.

Crossing the meadow...beautiful vista.

Across the meadow and up the mountain on the other side...looking back to camp and the Pulpit. Anyone from Colorado will know exactly where we were from this shot.

Out to the parking lot and the view from the hill above...

After a few days we broke camp and moved to another location two miles away that was lower. More elk activity there than the high country.

Here was the location of our new camp...great view.

Knifeguy headed back before we set up here...just crookedstix and I.

These were our tents and another fireplace under construction...

The weather in the pics looks great but we had several thunderstorms with hail and heavy snow. I had to knock the snow off my tent four times in one night during the worst one.

At that time one learns the utility of a quality lightweight tarp that allows you to keep cooking and keep dry during the worst weather. You can also see it in use in the gag pics with Lance doing our sharpening.

I'll finish with this shot of the vista from the meadow a mile from the first camp. Oddly enough I was able to get a phone signal here that permitted me to check with my family and assure them all was well.

Great spot to sit down and have a chat.

One thing this trip proved to me that I could, in my 64th year, take on the challenge of thin air at high altitudes (despite being a flatlander) and long hikes carrying very heavy loads and pull it off without a great deal of hardship. I did have to get in shape and it was tough the first two days but for anyone contemplating whether they can do this or not the fact that all three of us being over 60 years old and succeeding shows it can be done.

Thanks for looking!

Very nice. Sounds like a wonderful time for some old timers.

beautiful country! thanks for taking us along.

Great pictures. You picked a great place to hunt. I live about 90 miles from there and have hunted that area.

I have to say that was a great thread, awesome adventure, and comraderie, and I still have some of it to read. But this I will say: Joe, if you stay home in 85 degree weather because of rain and wind in Minnesoooota, how can you possibly expect to endure thundersnow and altitude in Colorado? LOL! Kerry, I want to comment on your backpack. Never in my 30+ years out west have I seen anyone carry a pack basket in the mountains there. That is a totally Mainer east coaster tradition, and one I completely welcome to see there out west. My compliments! I have my fathers old trapping pack basket, and it is a precious memento, that he asked me to 'take good care of' when he lay on his hospital bed dying. I am glad to see you use one of these old school tools of the traditional hunter/trapper. Nice!

Haha! Good points Trapper Kayak.

I used a hi-tec canoe pack with a hip-belt and tumpline to tote my gear in. Another example of transplanting proven eastern Canada technology to the west!

Pete,

Thanks for getting more pictures posted. Sorry I missed the snow! Ha!

Lance

I don't know why people feel the need to bring me into this. I've got just the backpack for high-altitude, snowy trekking and also have a water flask and canteen! I could go out there with a total pack weight of 18 pounds and survive, bad back and all! Not many people have an Easy Rider backpack!

Joe

And that big basket is about the stupidest looking thing I've ever seen! It's about like a St. Charles quiver, hahah!

Joe

Nice pack Frisky, my granddaughter has one like that for school.

Here's a few of my pictures from the trip, taken with my Kindle...which has the world's worst resolution; they look more like watercolors than photos! But they give you the general idea of the place.

In this photo you see a beaten man--Pdiddly--and in the background, the bone that was used to beat him. He was standing over my stone fireplace trying to get warmed up and dried off, but I was ready to do some more stonework--outta my way, Canuck!

What this thread really needs is more fireplace photos. Here's Fireplace #1, after I added a dozen more square feet of level surfaces around the edges. This was a huge help for meal prep, as it allows you to have all the food, utensils, and cookware right there in plain sight.

Notice also the little square rock under the grill. This allowed us to put the little gas stoves directly under the grill, so that we could cook the morning coffee and oatmeal quickly, and be in the woods at the crack of...around 9:30 or so.

Now, this is fireplace #2, a couple of miles away at our second camp. Since there was no giant log nearby at this location, I arranged some big boulders as seats in front of it. Since it was on a sidehill, with the seats below the fireplace, it made the cook's job super easy--everything was right at chest level.

Here I am putting the finishing touches on Fireplace #2. Any experienced campers seeing this photo will notice the fuzzy slippers...perhaps the most essential piece of gear to take into the wilderness. No matter how hard you hunt and how far you walk in the morning, a good lunch and an hour in fuzzy slippers will make a man ready to go back out hunting again...as soon as he gets this last rock or two in just the right spot...

I know darn well that Pdiidly has more fireplaces photos, but he's refusing to send them to me! So here are some scenery shots, taken the morning after our thundersnow-storm. This was the view looking west from our high camp.

The view looking north, taken in the pre-dawn darkness just before we headed out to hunt.

Hmmm...well actually it seems the sun may have risen slightly ahead of us on this day...

Here's Knifeguy prodding me to get moving, as we schlep up to the high camp on Day 2 of the trip. Yes, Lance...I know where it is!

The Instruments of Death, photographed during one of roughly a hundred "oxygen breaks" taken on our way to Camp Leatherwall...

Here's the low-rent district at Camp Leatherwall, which I dubbed "Little Canada." Pdiddly's tent is in the foreground, with "Little Seattle" poking up right at the border behind it. Being the only non-snorer in the group, I pitched my own tent a good distance from both of these guys.

Kerry,

Thank you for the pictures that were also added.

Lance.

Speak of the Devil--Hi Lance! I was just telling the guys how bad you and Pete snored. Here's the last pic for now--I call it "Golden Years," with Lance being the appropriate subject...heheh.

Yeah right..."Husqavarna" Hardy doesn't snore...I beg to differ!

I was sleepwalking when he took that picture of me.

And we were out hunting at the crack of noon every day!!

Geez Frisky...I didn't know you had an Easy Rider backpack!

That's the sign of a seasoned outdoors wanderer. WOW!!

That changes everything! You need to come elk hunting next year.

Just put your toothbrush and toothpaste and two pairs of underwear in your pack ( all it will hold) and I'll gladly hump in the rest, with pleasure!

I was right when I predicted all we'd ever see would be scenery shots. Crookedstix wrote- "...so that we could cook the morning coffee and oatmeal quickly..." I told you guys all they'd have to eat would be one-minute oats and trail mix! If you can't nab something with meat on it, you boys best stay on the porch!

Joe

Crooked, Pdiddly, Knifeguy, I enjoyed all aspects of your adventure/story. This has been a great story and I am envious of y'all. I hope to make it out that way one day. Beautiful country.

Maybe I missed it, but dont recall actually learning what "weapon X" was. Do any of y'all or Frisky care to enlighten?

Weapon X is a last resort to make up for no skills, but no skills always wins out, hahahah! Weapon X lacks versatility. It will be back for next year, so we can't divulge what it consists of.

Joe

Weapon X is actually a very seductive cow elk decoy. It's currently rolled up and stashed beside a big tree in Colorado right now, awaiting my return...and awaiting a population of bugling bulls to lure into range. If they only would have bugled this year, she would have been their downfall.

I worked long and hard to make her--it took me forever to find that dark brown lipstick and mascara, LOL. She might be a bit on the plump side, but I don't think that would bother a bull.

All I can say is WOW! First of all, Joe, let me throw in a comment on your 'backpack' and Bota Bag!! (And thanks for the morning laff, and also to you grizz for your post on this pack. LOL!) The Bota Bag: In 1975, I took a college bus trip from SUNY Morrisville to see the buffalo Braves NBA game against the Celtics in Buffalo. I had a Bota Bag exactly like that one filled with peppermint schnapps for the three+ hour ride. hehehehe. I was 18, and there were 4 of us. One guy, Dave Edick, was 21 and we called him the Old Man. He got way too drunk and puked all over my bag, so I threw it out. But seeing this thing of yours brought that whole trip back. BTW, that's what they are meant for -college drinking trips, NOT elk hunting backpack trips to Colorado. Next, your 'backpack' looks almost identical to the panniers I used on my Peugeot 10 speed on my '77 bike trip to Maine and Nova Scotia. This pack has no business in any high altitude traditional bowhunt situation. It looks more like something to be carried into the Cornell Big Red football stadium with a nice little lap blanket folded in with lunch, and a big red foam #1 pointy finger to wave in front of the fan's behind you face, and to settle down on the bleachers with my little coed friend that balmy Saturday in October in Ithaca. Now, Kerry, I have to ask: Will you come and do some stone masonry in my back yard? I have need for a nice rock grill and fireplace that your's resembles. I have and extra few pallets of flat stone that is just waiting for your adept hands with skills to place them so orderly. Those are by far the most elaborate camp fire 'rings' I have ever seen. In 1000 years, some archaeologist is going to stumble onto your sites up there at Lizard Head, and declare they have discovered another lost ruins of the civilization of Anasazi or Aztec descent and realize that the range of these peoples were far greater than originally believed. And now I have to say, Look at that fine, extensive kitchen ensemble you packed in on foot on your backs into the high country! Are you sure you didn't hire a chopper pilot to lift that load in a d drop it off for ya? My jaw dropped when I saw that extensive display of fine cookery... :^) No wonder pdiddly is bent over in exhaustion next to it. It wasn't the bone that beat him up, it was his being turned into a pack mule beast of burden! I am just flabbergasted...a steel grill and a cast iron skillet to boot? Wow, that is some serious dedication to the fine art of culinary meticulousness... So I must ask, after placing all those yards of rock, did you have any fingertips left with which to draw back a bowstring at an elk, should you have been given that noonday opportunity? Did you actually set foot out of camp (to actually hunt), with the exception of going back for more supplies and for Silver Dollar 'hydration'? I now have an appreciation for your sheer strength and determination for packing stuff into camp, and will be requesting that you accompany me on my next elk hunt deep into the back country to serve as camp cook, caller with decoy, and pack mule to haul my elk out. Thank you, I will be in touch... What are your booking dates available :^)

lol - what's her name?

LOL, I left the cast iron pan and grill right up there, just in case any other wandering souls ever find their way to that camp. I also left a nice little steel frypan at Camp #2, and a maple cutting board. It's important to offer these things.

I also think it's important to take the extra effort to get them there in the first place--luckily, my back and motor are still strong enough to hack it. Perhaps of Frisky ever joins us there, we'll finally taste elk backstraps from the cast-iron pan, instead of just minute oats and trail mix!

That is a nice gesture! I missed the maple cutting board in the picture. Impressive load. However, I would have left it all too, coming down is harder on the knees than going up. I bet your even seasoned it with oil, so it wouldn't be rusty when you go back next year with Frisky in tow. Good thing you have that awesome pack basket, Frisky's pack could only handle the trail mix, doilies, napkins, and hot pot holders.

Yep, the pans were oiled and turned upside-down; they should be fine. As for Frisky, he'll probably be like Lance, and insist on bringing along every knife he's ever owned! At one point we got looking at Lance's pack--it was like a traveling cutlery museum, LOL.

TK- My red panniers, from around 77', are probably the same ones you bought, lol! Like the backpack, mine have never been used. They ride on a Jim Blackburn rack. The pack was made in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, by Himalayan Industries, and is of fine quality. It would easily hold all essentials on a wilderness hunt, and I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

Joe

My Blackburn rack (and my riding buddy's) both broke at the attachment on our bike trip to Maine. We had kind of heavy loads, but no iron skillets. Mine broke in North Conway, NH, right after the cops made us break camp on a beach in the dark on the creek in town. Had to ride 10 miles at night to find new site. It fell backwards onto my tire going uphill. I had to attach it with means of a rope and heavy rubber bands. My buddy's broke while he was going downhill at probably 40 mph a couple days later. All I could see ahead of me was a big cloud of smoke from it rubbing on and burning up the back tire, blowing it out. Some crazy things happened on that trip. The panniers got one heckuva lot of use that trip, and after. We both got new racks replaced at no charge. Still have them. Might use them for an elk hunt on my Mt. bike into FS roads in WA or MT again someday.

All things considered, that adventure was sorely lacking a couple local mules and a mule skinner to make the trips into town and back and leave more hunting time. A mule also comes in handy when there's heavy things to haul out.

I thought about the mule thing too but decided Crookedstix would make for a good mule and save you money.

Joe

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